EQUIPMENT: PHILIP REIDon the latest batch of drivers, fairway woods, irons and putters to hit the shelves for the 2008 season which offers renewed hope to club players.
Progress, like it or not, is part and parcel of golf technology. The aim, remember, is to hit the ball longer and straighter; and while that ambition can frustratingly elude many players regardless of how hi-tech the equipment in their hands, the latest batch of drivers, fairway woods, irons and putters to hit the shelves for the 2008 season again offers the promise of at least making such aspirations somewhat obtainable.
It was no less a figure than Albert Einstein who pondered, "technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal". In fairness, such rationale can't be levelled at golf techies. Of course, the bottom line for club manufacturers is money - ie making it - but by making the game more playable for the club player.
The rule changes to the so-called trampoline effect in drivers came into being on January 1st last and, although club manufacturers have had a number of years to ease players into that new reality, it has taken some shop owners by surprise that many players, who have probably left their clubs in the cupboard for the winter, are only now getting around to changing drivers to legal versions.
As Declan Cunningham, of GolfStyle in Galway, put it: "There's a huge amount of people who're only discovering they've got illegal models. It's surprising really, because it means those clubs are four or five or more years old."
For those who need to change, fear not. In driverland, there is a vast offering of legal drivers and the consensus from early-season sales is that the TaylorMade Burner (which also offers a TP version for lower handicappers) has grabbed the attention of many. "It's lighter for one," remarked Cunningham. "Most shafts in drivers weigh 65 grams but this is just 50 grams."
The result is that the lighter weight allows a player to swing harder, possibly increasing clubhead speed, without losing balance. It also has a draw-enhancing head.
Cobra has also introduced a new version of its highly successful Speed LD range of drivers, which were among the best-selling drivers of 2007. Cobra has built a reputation for delivering large sweet spots with consequent forgiveness off the tee and the refined version for the 2008 season promises more of the same, plus some! The new 2008 Speed drivers have been engineered to the R&A length-width limits and feature an even lower centre of gravity . . . and the range has been developed to provide different versions, right up to a Speed Pro driver that is found in the bags of Ian Poulter and Camillo Villegas which aims to give extreme ball-speed players high launch, low spin and added workability.
Paul Turner, manager of McGuirks in Blanchardstown, agrees that the driver market is particularly competitive. TaylorMade, Cobra, Callaway and Ping all have eye-catching products and, finally, it seems that Nike have drivers able to take on the perennial heavy hitters. "Nike seem to have done their homework," remarked Turner, "because this year's range, the Sumo 2 which offers square-head and traditional headed drivers, is a significant improvement. They've managed to get them to perform really well."
If the driver is the perceived sexiest club in the bag, the most important has to be the putter. It is the implement that every player uses more often than any other: not surprisingly, low-handicap players in particular, according to Turner in McGuirks, still make a bee-line for the Scotty Cameron series (RRP €279) but the Ping I series (RRP €139) and Ping Redwood series (€249) are also popular and the TaylorMade Spider series (RRP €199) has made an enormous impact since it hit the shelves.
"We like to say that the Monza Spider turns bad strokes into good putts," said Seán Toulon, executive vice-president of product creation and innovation for TaylorMade. "Our objective when we embarked on the creation of the range was to build a putter that delivers a quantum leap in total performance to give players better results on all types of impact locations, to promote super-smooth and accurate roll."
For women, Mizuno have been especially innovative in their research and development. This year sees the introduction of the TAVA range, a full sequence of clubs designed to suit women's slower speed swings. A Mizuno study of leading instructors found that women weren't getting full use of the equipment in a traditional set. What Mizuno have done is develop a set for women that incorporates three traditional woods, two utility clubs and six pocket cavity irons.
David Llwelyn, of Mizuno's R&D centre, said: "By starting the set with a very lofted 14 degree driver, spacing the remaining four woods at four degree intervals and only including six irons, TAVA ensures that even the slowest swingers will get full use out of every single club in the set."
The bottom line is that the research and development departments of all the main club manufacturers are busier than ever . . . here's some of the hottest equipment to be found on Irish shelves for 2008!
DRIVERS
The Ping G10 (RRP €299) is, according to Declan Cunningham of GolfStyle in Galway, "very strong in sales". He has found there is a demand for the draw version. "The general feedback from consumers is that it is slightly bigger and very forgiving (than the previous G5)," he said. Ping believe the club provides consistent trajectory, long distances . . . and is a serious fairway splitter . . . . the TaylorMade Burner has a lighter weight designed to let the player swing harder. It has inverted cone technology behind the clubface to contribute to longer, off-centre hits. It also has a much nicer sound than the previous version. It also offers a TP version for better players . . . . the Callaway FT-I has earned a reputation as being a very forgiving club, with its design placing weight in the extreme corners (of the clubhead) for "unparalleled stability" . . . the Cobra Speed has a large face with milled dual rhombus face insert to accentuate ball speed and distance. "It's quietened down," said Cunningham, "the noise on the previous version was a little off-putting for some players."
FAIRWAY WOODS
"Most people who come into the store these days have a very good idea of what they want," according to Paul Turner of McGuirks. So it is that the Callaway Big Bertha (RRP €169), the Ping G10 (€199) and the TaylorMade Burner (€179) fairway woods are proving to be extremely popular in what is a very competitive segment of the market.
IRONS
Mizuno has always had a very good reputation for its irons and the company's MP57 (RRP €849) are proving to be very popular and an excellent successor to the MP60. The MP57 has a slightly larger head but the same shape as its predecessor.
Declan Cunningham of GolfStyle offers a custom-fitting service that ensures that a customer can walk into the shop and leave with his or her customised clubs. "We stock these clubs in flat lie, standard, upright, larger than standard . . . with our work shop, it means the lie and length can be altered to suit and you can walk out with your customised clubs," he said . . . another big seller in irons this season is likely to be the TaylorMade R7XD model (RRP €849) which features an oversized titanium head but which also features a Reax shaft which is as light as a graphite shaft but offers the advantages of steel.
PUTTERS
The TaylorMade Rossa Monza Spider Putter (RRP €199) is, according to Paul Turner of McGuirks, "extremely popular . . . it's brand new, and tour players use it". Indeed, the fact that tour players use the self-same putter seems to continue to appeal to consumers. TaylorMade engineers focused on giving the Spider putter increased "stability and forgiveness because poor impact quality is so frequently the cause of poor putting among all levels of golfers . . . even tournament professionals frequently miss putts because they fail to hit the ball with the centre of the clubface". To increase the Spider's forgiveness TaylorMade engineers had to increase the moment of inertia which they achieved by constructing a steel wire-frame head, developing a light aluminium core to allow more weight to be positioned in the perimeter and, finally, developing the Spider's "wings" into which movable weight cartridges are inserted, allowing weight to be concentrated in areas far from the putter face.
TRAINING AIDS
No doubt about the hottest item in aids for 2008. "The Leaderboard" (RRP €280) is a device that so impressed Stuart Appleby that he invested in the company that manufactures it. His fellow Aussies Robert Allenby, Geoff Ogilvy and Adam Scott are also disciples of the training aid - and Padraig Harrington has also started using it - which aims to improve the player's golf swing and strengthen muscles so that they can hit it longer. Distributed in Ireland by Jude O'Reilly of J-Golf, "The Leaderboard" aims to simplify "the complexities of the golf swing and build the solid foundation using essential techniques researched from Olympic sports, martial arts and pilates". The sliding resistance platform allows you to train while swinging a club or performing range of golf specific exercises which lock the person's trunk into position and allows the upper body to rotate around a stable base.
"It isolates, switches on and strengthens the correct muscles for a solid foundation to the golf swing," explained O'Reilly, a former caddie on tour for Japan's Shigeki Maruyama. "It helps eliminate reverse pivot and body sway as well as promoting good posture . . . in time, I expect The Leaderboard market within two years to be 60 per cent-plus non-golfers when its full potential as a mini-home gym or exercise tool are realised".
